Renewal
by Isiybelle
Summary: The guardians of Paradise have angered the Creator. They have been cursed to travel to Paradise once again, but as mortals. They are to remember the hardships endured to enter Paradise once again. Will they redeem their honor and memory, or will they waste away as mortals? If they don't make it, Paradise may be lost forever. Rated T for, blood, and gore.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

* * *

"Why must this search continue? Have they not gone through enough? I say, bring them here at once!"

"NO! They are not yet proven worthy! We must wait and allow them to continue,"

"Why? At this rate, they won't last another week, let alone a month's journey! How is that fair?"

"IT ISN'T! If they don't make it, they die, but if they do, they join us! Let us wait until either their souls are gone or they enter our gates. They decide their own fate, not us. We only watch,"

"But…"

"NO, we must watch and wait. It is a true honor to join our ranks. Let us not forget your struggles to enter this world. Let us not forget your journey and the endurances you all suffered. Let us wait and see if they possess the qualities needed to be one of us. Only they can decide,"

"If you agree to leave them be, say ey,"

"Ey,"

"Ey,"

"Ey,"

"Ey,"

"Ey,"

"So be it! Now, leave the keeper alone to continue his peace. Go. Bring the witch at once! Witch, I know very well that you listened in on that conversation. They have forgotten the challenge to enter here. I need you to show them the true path. Show them how to regain their honor. I ask for a favor. I ask for you to make them mortal. Let them continue their path. Let us see if they can make it once again,"

"You know the drill. I need more information than that. Tell me the details, or the magic might make a mistake,"

"You see them; they are currently on the verge of death. Put my comrades in the place they started from. I don't only wish to see if they can regain their honor, but I wish to see if they can all make it, together. Place them all, here!"

"Your wish is my command! Hehehehehehe!"

"One more thing, do not give them their memory of this place or the way to find it. Let me see how well they can navigate. That is all,"

"Yes,"

"My peers, if each and every one of you doesn't make it, Paradise may crumble. My friends, I grant you your powers for this journey,"

~O~

Celest

I have wandered this city for as long as my memory goes. I don't remember how I got here or who I was before this place, but all I know is that my name is Celest. I am a girl. I love the stars. I am also a wolf. Two years have passed since I came to this city, but really, it feels like only days. I have been the only wolf in this town, or at least I think I'm the only wolf, for two years.

I walked down the sidewalk in my human form. Way too many people stare if you're not human. I'm kinda shy, so I usually stay human. I continued my walk until I entered an alleyway. I squeezed through the tiny space between the buildings and emerged on the other side. The other side was a wonderful place. It was a grassy plain that had a few trees and a small lake right in the center. It was on the edge of town, so it was convenient. It was even more so because the humans didn't know about it.

I walked over to the little lake and lapped up some of it's water before staring at my reflection. My current wolf form was actually quite beautiful, not to be vain or anything. A yellow streak runs across my back, clear to the end of my tail. My legs are raven black, but have these swirls that wind to my paws that end with what kind of looks like stars. Several other stars are on my legs, but everything in between in a blue jay blue with more little stars. It was rather quite nice to compare my spots to the stars. My human form had curly gold hair that went to my shoulders and gentle yellow eyes. I had on a blue jacket that had a black and white shirt underneath. Black skinny jeans and knee high black boots were the end of it.

I, in my wolf form, curled up under a tree to take a nap before nightfall. The night was my favorite time of day; it was the time that the stars came out. I could barely fall asleep, for the excitement was unbearable. I soon drifted off, dreaming yet another one of my constellation dreams before opening by eyes. The flickering lights in the sky shined like diamonds. I changed into a human and lay on my back. I silently pointed to the constellations until they disappeared and the sun arose. Another night was coming, so I had to prepare.

~O~

Blaze

I don't know how I got here, but it seems like I fit right in. This city is practically a danger zone. The cops chase the bad guys, but the bad guys get away. I have this feeling in my gut that tells me this place was made for me. It's either that, or I'm hungry. I was dropped here two years ago, but I can't really remember anything before that. I was dropped here know a small list. My name is Blaze. I'm a dude. I'm a total dare devil, and I'm a wolf. Other than that, that is really all I remember from before.

I hopped aboard my skateboard and rode down the streets. I winded past the bustling civilians and the numerous lampposts and signs until I reached the skate park. I wasn't no kid or anything, but trying stunts and that stuff just made me feel like I could literally do anything. I glanced at the drop in front of me before pushing myself off and feeling the rush. I skated up the other side and did a few stunts before returning to the streets. It was getting dark, and at night, all the weirdos were running around. I skated around some turns and corners before reaching a cellar door to an apartment building. I chucked my skateboard down before hopping down into my little _home_.

I changed into a wolf and sat down. The place wasn't very big, but it wasn't public either. No one had come down in in well, ever. I had been upstairs though. It was pretty boring, so I snatched some stuff and came back here. I had snatched some one's purse, a mirror, and some one's take-out. I walked over to the mirror I had stolen what seemed like forever ago. I looked into it and stared at my wolf. I had a black head, legs, and tail tip. Two big, what seemed like fires, covered each side of me, and each one spiraled down my legs. The flames were ranged from orange to yellow to different reds. My tail, not the tip, was orange with splashes of yellow. My face had two flames on them that were orange and yellow. Practically the rest of me was red and orange.

I switched into a human and looked at myself once again. I had coal black hair with a red and orange hoodie. I had black jeans and red tennis shoes. My human form wasn't as exciting as my wolf. I was about to go to sleep when I heard the door to the stairs open up.

~O~

Brook

I sat by the stream and watched as several minnows swam against the current. There weren't very many streams around this town, but when I did find one, I was always happy that they were secluded. I don't know exactly why, but I always found tranquility watching the streams. Two years of searching for the perfect place to call home paid off. This little area was perfect. The grass, the trees, the stream, perfect. I don't know if I had a home two years ago, but I did now. Two years ago, all I knew was that my name was Brook. I was crazy about water, and I was a wolf.

I walked to a less active part of the tiny river and stared at my reflection. My human was actually pretty. Snow white hair with a blue streak that went down to my mid back, but I kept it up, so it was only on top of my head in a messy bun. My eyes were an icy blue and my skin was pale. I had on a white vest with a turquoise, long sleeved, undershirt. My pants were also white, but I had on blue tennis shoes. I stared at my wolf form next.

My muzzle, ears, paws, and a streak on my tail were all white. My legs, minus my paws, were a beautiful robin egg blue. The bottom half of my tail was also this color. Pearl shaped circles spiraled down my legs. The main part of my body was sky blue. Top part of my tail was also sky colored. Several pearl circles also were on my upper body. Two streams were under my eyes, thus making me look like I am crying. A seashell lies upon my left cheek, but it doesn't come off. A dangling string with seashells and pearls is strung like an earring on my right ear. I prefer my wolf form over my human any time.

I lie, in my human form, on the ground, next to the spring. I closed my eyes and let the sound of the stream lull me to sleep.

~O~

Forest

I sniffed several different plants, naming them within seconds. I was the master at this game, mostly because I had no one to challenge me. Life was pretty boring. I never had any one to really talk to. Two years of being alone is terribly lonely. I don't know if I had friends before two years ago, but if I did, I can't remember them. All I know from before is that my name is Forest. I am a guy. I absolutely love the wild and all it's life. I am also a wolf.

Wolf. I remembered my wolf form. I had never seen another wolf other than me, but I know that wolves aren't supposed to be green. My paws are a dark, wood like brown, but my legs are lighter brown. A fern spreads straight up each of my legs. Three vine like things cover my neck. My eyes have leaves branching off of them. My entire body, subtract the legs, is green. Several, what looks like it would be wood, spots of brown with little leaf like things cover the rest of my bods and tail.

My human form had similarities, but it wasn't the same. My hair was a grassy green, what a surprise! There were one or two brown highlights, but it is mostly green. My eyes are also green. Green jacket, dark green undershirt, brown jeans, and green sneakers are the rest of it.

I wasn't sure what to do the rest of the day, or the rest of my life. Every day was always the same. I ate a squirrel or something, I practiced my memory with the plants and animals, and then I slept. It was awfully boring, but there wasn't anything else to do. I continued my self-playing game until I got hungry and snatched a rabbit. You are probably wondering how on earth I could find a forest by this city. Really, I didn't, but I guess the zoo was okay. I wasn't on display or anything. I slept in one of the displays that show all of the weird birds. I've never ate one of them, I only live there. I usually head outside to find a squirrel; sometimes I'm lucky to find a rabbit. One thing I hated, though, was one of the birds in the display. He wasn't a flying bird, so he would be an easy meal. I doubt the zoo would miss him.

~O~

Breeze

I jumped across the rooftops until I landed on the one I considered home. It was the tallest building in this city, so I liked it the best. It was also the place I found myself two years ago. I was just up on this building. I knew that my name was Breeze. I'm a girl. I'm a little danger fanatic. I love the wind, breeze, etc. I am also a wolf.

I walked around until I found the place I wanted to put my dinner. I had caught a little sparrow and a squirrel. It wasn't a big dinner, but it would suffice. After a minute or two of avoiding bones and eating, I jumped off the side of the building. Yes, I said jump. I could feel the wind traveling through my hair. I was a human then, by the way. I could feel myself inching closer and closer to the ground until, SPLASH! I landed in the long forgotten pool. I swam to the other side and climbed out before staring at my soggy reflection. My human had sandy hair with a feather clip. My eyes were yellow. The blue jean jacket I had on was peach colored. My pants were light brown. You could call it tan if you wanted. My feet were covered with yellow boots had didn't have too big a heel.

I switched into my wolf form and stared. My paws were yellow, but my legs were a tan color. Peach ribbons spiraled down my legs. My entire body, except the legs, was a sandy color. I had feathers stuck behind my right ear. Several feather like spots were on me. In the center of my left side, there is a giant spiral that is practically rainbow colored. I smiled and ran down the street fast enough so that the humans couldn't stop and stare. I jumped upon a building before taking off to my place where I would jump off of the building a few more times before going to bed.

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**I didn't do much detail at the top for a reason. I'm thinking about starting another story. If you guys like it, comment. If you don't think so, don't. The more support the merrier! I would really like to show you guys how I imagine the characters, so I would like to see who can draw the best wolf. It must be white, and it doesn't have to be all fancy. It just needs to be an anime wolf. You can change your avatar and type Contest in the comment box. The winner's name will be the name of an important character in this story! If you want to know something, you can always send me a private message. Don't be afraid, I don't bite. Please put your pencils to work!**


	2. Meeting

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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CHAPTER 2

"What have I done? What have I done? I was ignorant of such consequences. Paradise is starting to fall apart! Without my guardians to help hold the boundaries, Paradise will fall! Two years of watching them scramble off the streets. They don't even know about Paradise! I must give them a push. Witch, I don't suppose you can bring them back, their memories fully restored?"

"No, they would have no memory,"

"I need your help one more time. I know you can make them meet. I wish for you to watch them on this journey. Help them when they need help, but do not get too involved. They must do this on their own. I must go and try to prevent Paradise from crumbling anymore. Hurry!"

"Yes, here we go!"

~O~

Celest

I waited under my tree like always. I really had nothing to do. I had eaten already and even took a long nap, but it seemed like the stars were delaying. I sighed a sigh of boredom before talking to myself. "I wonder if there are other wolves in this town." I surprised myself by what I said. I had never thought about it before. I had always just assumed that I was the only one. I sighed again and let that thought go. I wasn't the kind of wolf who really wanted to leave. I was happy and content here, but I still wanted to know that I wasn't the only one.

~O~

Blaze

A day of skate boarding would make any _human_ tired, but I was ready to roll. I was just completely energized, which was a little abnormal. I was usually tired out by now, but I wasn't. I decided that the skate park was just too boring, so I decided to skate somewhere I had never been before. I skated/ran across rooftops of random buildings. It was a full moon, but the stars weren't out. It was strange, but I continued my little journey. I stopped. Something I smelled made me stop. I had never smelled it before, so I decided to check it out. I followed the smell through an alleyway until I found a clearing. I didn't pay it much attention because there was another wolf!

~O~

Celest

I don't know why I opened my eyes, but I just had this feeling that someone was watching me. It was like this shiver up my back that seemed all too familiar. I opened one eye first before staring at the wolf in front of me. I had no idea what to do, so I growled. He came forward and I could see him better. His head, legs, and tail tip were black. Two fires spiraled down to his paws, and he consisted of reds, yellows, and oranges.

I bared my fangs at this other wolf as he inched closer. I stopped growling. He looked me in the eyes and I knew he meant no harm. I sat down and cocked my head at him. He changed into his wolf form and sat down two.

"Hi, um… what… what's your name?" the other wolf asked. I was speechless for a second, but I did respond.

"I'm Celest, and you are?" I asked. He smiled before answering.

"I'm Blaze, so what? Do you live around here or sumthin?" Blaze asked.

"Welcome to my humble home!" I smiled at Blaze before lying back down.

"Nice, it's much better than my place," Blaze smiled and looked around.

"Where do you live?" I blurted out.

"A stinkin cellar," Blaze commented before lying on his back in human form. He was actually kind of handsome.

"You… you can stay here if you want. The buildings keep the wind out, and there is water. It's not Paradise, but it works," I smiled. I could suddenly feel tension coming from Blaze.

"Did you… did you say, Paradise?" Blaze looked at me funny.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked.

"It's just, the other day, someone threw a book down in my cellar and it had some interesting stuff in it. I mean, I'm not a big book freak, but the words just came to me," Blaze was starting to freak me out.

~O~

Blaze

The book was strange. It was currently in my cellar, but I still remember.

_(Flashback)_

_I ran behind the staircase and hid while a human came down into the cellar. A strange book was in his hands. He placed it on a shelf and went back upstairs. I came out after I heard the door shut. I crawled out from my hiding place and sat on the ground. I was messing with my skateboard when a pain started in my head. I rubbed my head with my palm and decided to go to bed, but I couldn't sleep. Something in my mind kept thinking about the book. I soon grew weary of it, so I hoisted myself up and scanned the shelves for the book. There it was. I knew it was the book. I grabbed it and started reading, even though I couldn't really read. The words just came to me. The book talked about some crazy stuff like red moon, wolves, humans, and Paradise._

"Back to Earth! Yoohoo!" I heard a voice calling. I snapped out of my flashback and responded to Celest.

"The book talked about a place called Paradise," I told her.

"Paradise? What is it supposed to be like?" Celest asked. She leaned forward and gave me the puppy eyes, so I told her.

"It is supposed to be this place for only wolves. There aren't any humans, and wolves live in harmony," I spoke of it as I caught the first glimpse of a star.

"A STAR!" Celest practically screamed and started to point out constellations I had never even heard of.

"Those three over there make Orion's Belt!" Celest excitedly announced.

"What, are his pants too big?" I tried to make a joke. She let out a giggle before naming some more constellations that I made jokes about. We continued this pattern until the sun started to rise and the stars disappeared. Celest and I started to fall asleep when I shook her awake a little.

"What?" She drowsily asked.

"Celest, do you want to go to Paradise with me?"

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**This chapter is a little shorter, but something happens. If you haven't done so already, think about the contest. The details are on Chapter 1 of Renewal.**

**P.S PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Together!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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CHAPTER 3

"Here we go! There, you two are a good start, but I need all of you going together. Let's go with you!"

~O~

Brook

I scanned the area for a bird or something, but all the birds were gone. They had been here yesterday and the day before that. Today they were just gone. I would have to leave my stream and go back into the town. I sighed and changed into a human. I hesitantly headed towards the crowded city while my instincts told me to turn around. I was starving and that just wouldn't do. I was going to have to steal.

~O~

Forest

I wandered around the city looking for a nice squirrel to eat when I spotted her. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. She was a wolf, but even her human form was beautiful. I didn't even know how to say hi to another wolf, but I walked over to her.

"Hi, uh…," I started.

"You're a w… you're like me!" She stated. I guess I wasn't the only one who'd never seen another wolf.

"Yes, I… uh… how… I'm Forest," I greeted.

"I'm Brook," Brook, what a lovely name.

"I'm new to this, I mean, I've never met another…," I announced.

"I've never met another one either," She smiled. I heard her stomach growl and she gave an awkward smile and laugh.

"Come with me," I smiled and she followed me to the zoo.

~O~

Brook

I didn't know this Forest, but something in my gut told me to trust him, so I did. I followed him to a zoo where we secretly jumped into one of the exhibits.

"Hi hi hi hi hi," the various birds announced. I sorta got freaked out and backed up.

"Don't mind them, they're always like that," Forest replied to my distress. He turned around and had a squirrel.

"When did you catch that?" I asked. He didn't have them when we came in.

"A few minutes ago, while you were being freaked out by those birds. Don't you remember?" Forest looked a little concerned, but he waved it off and handed me a squirrel. We chowed down on our little meal and talked for a while. Time seemed to fly right by and before I knew it, the stars were in the sky.

"HOOWWLLLLLLL!" a howl went off in the distance. I wanted to find out what wolf had made that noise, but the fear of what I could find stopped me.

"Who was that?" Forest asked.

"I was just thinking the same thing; do you want to check it out?" I cautiously asked.

"Let's go!" He jumped over the barrier with me following close behind. We ran in our wolf forms through the city. As we ran, I could see the bright lights of the city as they blurred from our speed. We dashed past dazed humans and bustling cars until Forest motioned for me to stop.

"What is it?" I asked while I made my way to where he was.

"There was definitely another wolf here. I can smell it," Forest replied. I picked up on the scent and we followed the trail to a group of buildings. SPLASH!

"What was that?" I asked utterly confused. A blur went past the building but stopped when it came to us.

"YOU'RE A WOLF!" a voice announced. A female wolf stood in front of us with a surprised expression on her face.

"You are, too!" Forest announced.

"What's your name?" I happily asked.

"I'm Breeze! Who are you guys?" Breeze questioned.

"I'm Forest and this is Brook. You are the second wolf I've met today!"

"You're my first!" Breeze replied.

"Why did you howl?" It was bugging me, so I had to ask.

~O~

Breeze

"I didn't howl, but I did hear it," I replied.

"We followed the scent here," Forest was confused.

"Wait a second, you have a different scent," Brook tried to piece together the puzzle.

"The other scent is gone. That's strange," Forest rubbed his jaw in human form. A silence passed for a few moments before we continued on.

"So do you live around here?" Brook asked me.

"Yeah, you see the tallest building over there? I live on it's roof," Brook gasped.

"I would be scared to fall off or something. I prefer to live in my little secluded area. That reminds me, I need to get back there. I'll see you all tomorrow. Wait, how will we find each other again?" Brook asked.

"Let's meet by that big fountain in the town square. Breeze, Brook, do you guys know the place?" Forest asked.

"Yep," I replied.

"Sure," Brook smiled. We all said our goodbyes and I went to bed. I couldn't wait until tomorrow.

~O~

Celest

Blaze had left a few hours ago and said he would be back tonight. I had agreed to go to Paradise with him, but it wasn't like we were just going to suddenly pack up and leave.

I paced around my little home before boredom took over. I snuck through the alleyway and decided to grab lunch for me and a little something for Blaze when he got back. I walked pass the venders and snatched a hotdog, a pepperoni roll, and some jerky. I stuffed it all inside a bag and started to head back when the sweet smell of cake made its way into my snout. Cake was like my weakness. You are probably thinking, Celest, you're a wolf! Wolves don't eat cake! Well I do.

I followed the smell to a vender with all kinds of sweets. The one that caught my eye was a red velvet cake. My mouth was watering from just looking at it. I walked by and stopped. I was trying to make it look like I was a customer. I looked at this and that and when the guy wasn't looking, I snatched the cake and ran.

It wasn't very long until I came to the alleyway. I squeezed through and was glad I was back. The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. I panicked and ran to the lake. I turned around and there was another wolf. I had no skill in fighting, so I was in trouble.

"Cake, jerky, hotdogs, and pepperoni rolls. What else do you have? Hehehehe!" the wolf laughed.

"It's not for you! Go away!" I growled. I tried to look ferocious in order to bluff him, but I didn't think it was working.

"Hey hey, there doesn't have to be any fighting. You only need to give me your food and leave. THIS PLACE IS MINE!" He growled. He lunged forward and I closed my eyes and let out a whimper. I could just imagine his fangs ripped my pelt and the crimson blood starting to flow, but it didn't come. I opened my eye and saw that Blaze was in front of me! He attacked the wolf who whimpered as he ran away.

"Why did you protect me?" I asked.

"Because we're a pack," Blaze smiled.

* * *

**I have figured a due date for the contest. The picture has to be done and seen by me by the time chapter 7 of Renewal comes out. The wolf can have any expression and look like anything, but I would prefer it full body. It doesn't have to be done on the computer, but you have to get it to me computer wise. You can scan it, take a picture, whatever, but there are two ways to submit it. **

**1. You can change your avatar and type, "CONTEST" in the review box.**

**2. You can send me an email with the picture attached. For some reason, it won't let me put the last part, so my email is isiybelle at gm ai l. co m The at means that little a with the circle around it, and just get rid of all the spaces. It wouldn't work any other way.**

**I hope every contestant does great! :-D**


	4. The Journey Begins

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Now it's time to get started!"

~O~

Celest

After the incident with the other wolf, Blaze and I left almost immediately. I never knew that a wolf could be both stupid and aggressive enough to enter another's territory. Anyway, we were walking through a forest. The forest was filled with pines that seemed to actually touch the sky. It wasn't that it was dark or scary, but it just seemed unnatural. I sniffed the air, hoping to catch scent of something to eat when I spotted white.

"What was that?! Blaze, what was that?!" I quietly screamed.

"What?" He asked.

"I-I saw something. It was white a-and it was over there!" I was scared. An over-active imagination was never useful in situations like these. Blaze went over there and looked, but nothing was there. We continued walking. I heard the bushes shake again, but this time, Blaze heard it, too. I stopped dead in my tracks and started shaking. I didn't want to admit it, but I was one hundred percent scaredy-cat.

"Stay there," Blaze commanded.

"Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere," I reassured him. He snuck up on the bush and pounced. There were some growls and whimpers and then a wolf came out from behind the bushes.

~O~

Brook

I sat down on the edge of the fountain and waited for the others. I sat there for a few minutes before I saw a familiar green wolf, although he was in his human form.

"Hey," Forest said as he jumped beside me.

"I wonder what Breeze's human form looks like," I wondered.

"Speak of the devil," Forest said. Sure enough, Breeze was coming in an impressive human disguise. Forest whistled and Breeze blushes before punching him in the shoulder.

"So, what now?" Breeze asked. I hadn't really thought about it.

"I personally think we should leave this stink hole. This city is nasty for one thing. Hey, we could make like a pack and go out in to the unknown!" Forest gestured with his hands. "I'll be alpha, of course, and we'll have beautiful pups together!" This time, we both punched him.

~O~

Breeze

How could they talk about starting a pack so easily? Was it really that easy? Was all I have to say is, " Sure," and we'd be together? Why was it so hard to think about it?

"Back to Earth, Breeze!" Forest's hand waved in front of my face.  
"Sorry, what?" I smiled an awkward smiled.

"I asked you if you were in. Joining us as a pack," Forest smiled. I didn't know. I hardly knew them. We'd only met last night and it was only for a few minutes. I didn't know what I was doing, but before my brain registered it, something had come out of my mouth.

"Yeah!" Brook quietly cheered. I must have agreed.

~O~

Blaze

I nipped at the tail of the wolf. It's back, tail, paws, and almost its entire head was white. Its eyes were shrouded in spots of black. Black was really the only other color on it.

"Who are you?" I growled while Celest hid behind some shrubbery. The wolf snorted, so I leaped upon it. "I asked you a question!"

"Snipe!" it managed and I jumped off of it.

"Why were you following us?"

"Hehehehe, how do you know you weren't following me?" Snipe laughed. I grabbed it by the neck and shook it a little before letting it go. I licked the metallic tasting liquid from my muzzle and watched as it spoke. "You're not normal wolves! I've been watching that female over there for about a month now. You are both not from here!" Snipe growled at me and Celest came out of hiding.

"Please, just leave him alone. He didn't do anything to us!" Celest pleaded. I snorted and turned away, pretending to scout ahead, and hoping Celest would follow, but she didn't.

~O~

Celest

I knew that Blaze was just protecting us, but the sight was just too much for me to handle. I went over and sniffed the wolf.

"What's your name?" Snipe asked.

"I'm Celest," I replied. Snipe didn't say anything after that. He only lay down beside the trunk of an oak tree until Blaze came back. He lay down beside me and glared at Snipe.

"I don't trust him," Blaze quietly growled.

"I think we should let him join our pack," Blaze looked shell-shocked.

"What! No!" Blaze quietly screamed.

"Why not? He hasn't done anything to us," I tried to reason. Blazed huffed and I gave him puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, but I don't trust him," I smiled and nuzzled him while he laughed. I kind of liked Blaze, but I could never be with him. Besides, something important had happened tonight. Tonight, our pack had grown.

~O~

Forest

I was in between two beautiful she wolves who were like my only friends. That would be enough to make any wolf happy, but it felt like part of me was missing. It wasn't like a romantic, "Oh, my darling! You will always have my heart!" kind of thing. It was more like my pack wasn't there. I couldn't sleep. I had to open my eyes every five seconds to make sure they hadn't left. When the morning did come, I had to close my eyes to pretend I was asleep so that they wouldn't worry. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get scared or worried for me. It was mostly because today we were going to start our journey into the unknown.

* * *

**I hope everyone liked it! I didn't post last week, so I decided to double post today. :-)**


	5. Bitten!

**The winner is... Copperdogz! Hooray! Yippie! To see the characters, please go to deviantart.c om (please get rid of that space between the c and the o) and type in the search bar, Renewal Contest: ... but instead of the ... put which character you want to see. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 5

"Good, good! Let's get moving!"

~O~

Blaze

I didn't trust this Snipe, but I couldn't say no to Celest. She had grown on me. Us threesome were currently making our way through a dense forest. The trees loomed overhead and kept the sunlight away. Only a few spots came through the curtain. Those spots looked like small steppingstones, but that wasn't what got my attention. Several tracks were within the cold ground. There were deer tracks, some kind of bird tracks, and another set that I couldn't figure out.

I kept a close eye on the surrounding area. Whatever made the tracks hadn't gone through here too long ago. A sudden rattling of the bushes caught my attention.

"STOP!" I yelled to the others. To my embarrassment, a little sparrow flew off.

"You don't have to be so cautious. We're wolves. Only a few creatures would mess with us," Celest assured me. I did lower my guard, but I didn't stop looking around.

"Where is this pack going, by the way?" Snipe suddenly sounded.

"To Paradises," Celest happily replied.

"Paradise, ha. There is no Paradise, or at least, not anymore," Snipe mumbled the last part.

"What do you mean?" Celest asked.

"There was a Paradise. All wolves wanted to find it, so they all set out, except the smart ones. Only a few made it. After that, several Nobles didn't like that only wolves could enter, so they destroyed the entrance. Many wolves went out after that. They all wanted to prove to themselves that Paradise was still there, but none of them ever came back," Snipe finished. The mood of the area suddenly got morose.

"That's terrible. I hope that Paradise is still real," Celest broke the silence. We continued walking until I tripped on a log and it broke in half. A snake slithered out of the ruin.

~O~

Celest

"Blaze, watch out!" I yelled, but it was too late. The snake had already sunk its fangs into Blaze's leg. It sprayed its venom at Snipe and I, then it slithered off. Blaze stood there, not moving a muscle. Then he suddenly fell over. "Blaze!" I yelled at went to his side.

"I-I-I'm getting c-cold, Cel-lest. I-I can't br-reathe," Blaze managed.

"Shhhh, don't say anything," Blaze stopped speaking, but that only made me more scared. I could feel the tears sliding down my cheek. His shallow breaths slowed until a sigh approached. Blaze didn't breathe again. "Blaze. Blaze. Blaze! BLAZE!" I yelled at his lifeless body. I nuzzled his face and licked his face. Nothing worked, so I lay down beside of him. Snipe had gone off to who-knows-where, so I was all alone with Blaze's corpse.

~O~

"Oooooh! Why! I guess I have to do everything myself! Well, here go's nothing!"

~O~

Celest

Blaze hadn't moved at all. I knew he was dead, but something in me was fooled. I hadn't slept, but after Snipe came back with two rabbits, he had taken a nap.

_Celest, Celest. Move away from him._ A voice sung. I couldn't help it. My feet didn't respond to me anymore. The voice called to me. Once the call stopped, I stopped and couldn't move. A small light danced around the air. It fluttered its way to Blaze, or, the body. The light moved closer and closer. When it touched his fur, it disappeared. Another one came, followed by another, and another. Soon thousands of little lights flew about before they disappeared on Blaze. When the last one disappeared, Blaze opened his eyes.

"Blaze! You're alive!" I ran to him and gave him an enormous hug in our human forms. In the middle of our embrace, a growl sounded from Snipe. The two of us looked at him, and then at what he was growling at. A pitch black wolf with purple paws and a ribbon that stretched around her in a rainbow stood. I started to inspect her more closely. Her eyes were purple, but she didn't have any pupils.

"Who are you?" Blaze snarled.

"I'm... uh… Maddy!" She suddenly said.

~O~

Brook

The four of us wandered the field, creeping up upon an elk. Forest and Breeze were upfront while Copper and I stood a few feet behind them. Copper, well we met him in the city. I practically walked into him, so our pack grew a little. Copper's paws and chest are a tan color Three circles, each one smaller than the one behind it, are tan and on each side of him. His back and almost his entire face are a dark brown, whereas the rest of him is a copper color.

Forest jumped upon the elk and started to bite down on its spine. Breeze aimed for its neck, but it jerked away just in time. The elk kicked its back legs to try to knock off Forest, but it wasn't working. In an instant, Copper flew to the front and grabbed the neck of the elk. It started to lie down. When it was considerably dead, the pack chowed down to a meal.

~O~

Forest

After our meal, we set out to go into the unknown. We never really had a destination until Copper started talking about this place called Paradise. We all thought it was a good idea, so we were headed there.

"Who's tracks are these?" Brook asked.

"I'm not sure. There are bird tracks, I know that," Breeze replied.

"Deer tracks, too," I commented.

"I think they're wolf tracks," Copper spoke up. The pack stopped.

"What would wolves be doing here?" I asked.

"Maybe they're looking for Paradise," Breeze commented. We left it at that and continued walking until we came to a clearing.

"Let's rest here for the night," I announced. Everyone silently agreed and went to lie down. I hadn't told them this, and I had hoped that they wouldn't find it. There was a blood stain on the middle of the path beside a broken log. There was also a faint smell of wolf. Three wolves, that is. Two males and a female had come this way until something happened. There was also a fourth smell. It didn't really smell bad, but it also didn't smell good. It was very simple to miss. It smelled like flowers and death. Psychic

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**I hope you peeps like my story. I would like to thank everyone who entered the contest, but sadly, there can only be one winner.**


	6. The Trial

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 6

~O~

Blaze

After the snake, which I can't seem to remember, the four of us, Maddy including, went on. Maddy was strange and didn't say anything except her name. I had to agree with Celest that she looked blind, but she managed perfectly. She was strange, though.

"Blaze, we should rest here," Celest interrupted the silence. I shook my head yes and we stopped. The air had started to get colder the farther we went, so we all huddled together. The open air didn't help to keep us warm, but the body heat did the job. The others fell asleep fast, but I watched. I just had a feeling that crawled up my spine. It was freaky and I had to randomly shake it off several times, but it always came back.

~O~

Brook

Forest didn't like it when I found the blood by the broken log. He kind of huffed and walked away. Copper, Breeze, and I all searched the area, but no one else was around. There were tracks that continued through the forest and four different scents; though we weren't sure the last one was a wolf. It just smelled funny.

"D-do you have a weird feeling?" I asked Breeze. She was like the strongest of the pack with Copper close behind.

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Breeze commented.

"I've got a shiver up my spine, too," Copper added. That meant that something was definitely wrong.

"CRACK!" a noise struck and I jumped about six feet in the air before hiding behind the two warriors. I peeked over their shoulders and saw about five humans hidden in the shadows. One came out. It was a man. His auburn hair covered his eyes and his bulky jacket covered most of his body.

"Wolves, what a surprise!" He smiled and made a signal with his hands. Lead started to fly all around. I ran as fast as I could, but not fast enough. A bullet hit my front leg and another flew into my side. I yelped in pain and crawled away. A flash of green caught my attention. Forest had entered the fight. He jumped on the back of one of the humans and tore at its neck with his fangs. Breeze and Copper were on the ground, neither of them were moving. I panicked and jumped up with a newfound strength and knocked a human on its back and tore its throat out. Another sting entered my left hind leg and I collapsed. I heard Forest whimper and saw a human with a gun to his head. Something inside me broke and I leaped.

~O~

Celest

I had felt the shiver, too. I knew that Blaze had felt it because he kept trying to shake it off, but it came back. I had felt the same way until we entered a plain. It stretched as far as I could see, and as soon as we entered it, that feeling washed away. With the feeling gone, my suspicion only grew. As I was deep in thought, I didn't realize that I had slipped and my two back legs were in a hole that didn't seem to have a bottom. The tall grass hid me from others, so I yelled, but no one came.

"Help! Help! Help Me!" I screamed until my eyes started to water from the sunlight. I was alone.

~O~

Blaze

"Where is Celest? Where are the others?!" I yelled. One minute I had been right beside them, but the next, I was all alone. Where were they? I wandered around, but suddenly the air was freezing. I shivered and curled up, but it wasn't enough. I needed heat. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the cold melted away and warmth welcomed me in. I opened my eyes only to see that I was giving off light! I looked at my back, and my flames looked like they were really on fire! Wait, they were! I rolled around, trying to stop the searing pain when I realized, the fire didn't burn. My fur was still there and it didn't hurt. I took it as a sign and started to search for Celest. She was my top priority.

~O~

Celest

It took forever in the cold before a light came out. A hand reached out, so I in my human form reached out to it. I couldn't see who it was because I was too tired. Hanging over an edge by only your hands can take a lot out of you. I smiled, or at least I think I did, and collapsed on the ground.

I awoke only to see Blaze's handsome human. I smiled and squeezed him tight. He returned the embrace and we stayed that way for what seemed like forever before we parted.

"Where are the others?" I asked. They were nowhere in sight. "OMG, Blaze! You're on FIRE!" I screamed. Blaze just shrugged and I nervously laughed and scooted a little bit away.

"We had better get going," Blaze announced I agreed, but then thought about the others again.

"What about the others?!" I asked.

"They would have yelled for help. That's how I found you. I haven't heard anything from them," he replied. I didn't say anything after that. We walked through the plain until we reached the other side.

"Oh thank goodness we are done with that!" I laughed. Blaze started to sniff around.

"No we're not," he announced.

"What? Yes we are!" I replied.

"No, we're not. I know because I marked that tree over there," Blaze pointed and I scrunched up my nose. It was gross. We both got up and continued walking until we reached the other side. "We're in the same place," Blaze commented.

"WHAT?! No we're not! Over there is where we came from, not here!" I practically yelled.

"I know what I'm smelling, you wanna try?" he sarcastically remarked. I laughed and we took off again.

"Blaze, maybe I can use the stars to navigate!" I yelled. He smiled and slapped his head to say, "Why didn't I think of that?" I searched for Orion's Belt. Then I looked for the big dipper and soon we were making our way across the field. We reached the top of a hill and looked down. Two wolves stood in the distance. We had made it!

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**Please review and tell me what you thought. P.S I guess I'm going to double post since my internet went crazy again.**


	7. Captured

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 7

~O~

Blaze

Never in my life was I so happy to see other wolves. Celest was the first to come barreling down the hill towards the two figures. I laughed and ran as well. Snipe jumped back when I lost my balance and almost fell on him. After I got back on my feet, I was knocked down as Celest pounced on me in an embrace. She nuzzled and licked me, so I followed suite. I could hear Maddy and Snipe in the background.

"Look at the two love birds," Maddy chuckled.

"I can already imagine their puppies!" Snipe laughed. Maddy soon joined him and they both fell on their backs, rocking back and forth while laughing until their mouths ached. Celest soon got off of me and we walked over to them. Their laugher faded as they got up and gave Celest and me a look. I growled a little, but I could tell that Celest blushed under her fur. We walked past snipe and Maddy and continued through the forest. The sun was rising and I had spent enough time in that field for a lifetime.

~O~

Maddy

It worked! I knew it would! Blaze has discovered his power! Though it is only a small fraction, it is still something to celebrate! Now, Celest, she knows how to navigate, but she needs her full powers, too! Urghh, why does everything have to be done by me?!

~O~

Brook

I panted heavily. After that snap, I killed about twenty humans, but they never seemed to stop. I had finally given up and they threw me in this cage with Forest. Forest was shot several times, but so was I. Then, as if on cue, the pain from my bullet wounds overwhelmed me. I whimpered a little, but I held the pain in. I didn't know if Copper and Breeze were okay, but I wished with all my heart that they were. Though I had known them for only a short while, they were like my best friends, well, two of my best friends. Forest was one of them, too. I sat my head on my paws and thought. I thought of my life before this little adventure. It was peaceful and quiet… and boring. My life had been nothing without them. I remembered that fateful day I met Forest, those bright green eyes and that charming smile. He was funny and nice and, oh my gosh. I looked at the sleeping form of Forest and knew that I loved him.

~O~

Breeze

"Ughhhh, where am I?" I sat up in my human form, but immediately wished I hadn't. The small cage I was in was way too small for my human, so I bumped my head. I changed my form and saw Copper. He was in his wolf form and was staring at me. I blushed at him and hoped he hadn't noticed.

"I'm not sure. I know that we're in a cage," Copper replied. I looked around, but I couldn't even tell which side was the door and which was the wall. "I think we might be moving, too," Copper commented. I concentrated and could feel the small bumps as the truck moved over them.

"I think you're right," I replied, "Why don't you try to, I don't know, maybe head but that side or something?"

"Sure," Copper replied. I turned my attention to the opposite side. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I ran towards the door with all my might. I felt the impact and was knocked back. My head was spinning, but I still charged. I could hear Copper ramming the other side, too. I hit it again and again before lying down.

"Okay… I'm done… this is hopeless," I said.

"Yeah… we're not getting… anywhere," Copper commented. It was that moment that I knew it was going to be a while before we got out of there.

~O~

Celest

Running, all I could do was run. I couldn't stop, I couldn't tell where I was going or why I was going, but I had this urge to flee. I looked back once. I wished I hadn't. I saw Blaze and he was on fire again. His flames were slowly going out and he was on the ground. Then the scenery changed. I was in a field. I walked around for a little bit until I saw Blaze. I almost screamed when I noticed how decomposed he was. Several other Blazes came up, each worse than the one before it. There were even a few Snipes and Maddys. I backed away in horror. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine Blaze, the non-decomposed one. The area got about ten degrees warmer and I looked at my pelt. The star-like spots looked like actual stars. They glowed slightly and the black on my legs somehow seemed darker, the blues bluer, and so on. The whole area around me was bathed in a slight glow that made the wolves cower away. I ran far from that place and felt like I was gliding. I looked down at my paws, but they were no longer even touching the ground, but somehow it felt normal, so I didn't freak out. I continued running until…

"CELEST! WAKE UP!" Snipe yelled in my ear and I looked at all the concerned faces in front of me. I smiled at one particular wolf and nuzzled him to death with all the fear and love I had. Blaze would never be that decomposed and scary. He was mine, wait, did I just think that?

~O~

Maddy

Good, good, now she knows what she can do. The only problem is how to get her use her power. Oh the possibilities.

~O~

James was a head strong seventeen year old. His father was a skilled gunsman who had lots of friends. It just so happened to be this day that his mother told James to fetch some fire wood from the woods. They didn't have an electric heater like most people, so he usually had to chop down some trees.

James wandered through the woods behind his house until he came upon the perfect tree. It was long and was already dead. It had fallen about a week earlier from a storm. As he walked over to the fallen log, he stepped on a stick that made a loud crack and heard a growl.

~O~

Blaze

I was lying next to Celest. It was early in the evening and we had decided to take a rest. Celest hadn't wasted a minute to fall asleep. She seemed tired and clung to me ever since she awoke a few hours ago. I mean, it wasn't like I didn't like it, but she was just jumpy.

I was just about to close my eyes when, CRACK! My head went up and I automatically growled. Celest stirred from her sleep and looked at me funny. I couldn't explain because a human came into sight. He gasped and rubbed his eyes. I took that moment to change form and the others did the same. He looked back and sighed relief, but I could tell he was still jumpy.

I looked at Maddy and Snipe. This was the first time I had seen their human forms. Snipe had snow white hair that covered one eye. It didn't show in his wolf form, but there was a scar that ran down the side of his face, just missing his right eye. He had a white jacket that looked like it was made of leather and it had a black under shirt. His pants were black and his shoes followed suite.

Maddy, she was utterly stunning. Her hair was purple, but it was such a dark purple, it looked black. Her hair was done in a bun on the back of her head, but two separate strands that made her bangs made two giant loops before becoming part of the bun. I would have guessed that her hair went down to about her mid back. The bun itself actually had a rainbow colored ribbon tied around it. She had a small, black, jacket with a rainbow undershirt on her torso. Black pants with another rainbow ribbon tied where a belt would be and black high heels were the end of it.

"H-hello, w-who are y-you?" the boy stuttered.

"I'm Blaze, this is Celest, that's Snipe, and that's Maddy," I replied.

"I-I'm James. W-why are you h-here?" he asked.

"We didn't know anyone lived around here. We were simply taking a hike through the woods and decided to take a break," I didn't know how believable that sounded since we didn't have anything a hiker would have and none of us really looked like we were hiking.

"Oh, ok-kay. Uh, I-I guess I'll be on my way," James turned away and took a step before I heard a gun cock.

"James, get away from them, NOW!" a new voice commanded. We all looked that way and saw an older man. James had similarities, so I guessed it was his father.

"Dad, they're just hikers," James explained.

"Son, are you blind?! They're wolves! Just look at them!" the father announced.

"Sir, we mean no harm…" Celest started.

"Shut up! I don't want any of your persuasion!" the father interrupted.

"Dad…" James tried to stop him, but he whistled and several other men came out of the bushes.

"Now, we don't want any trouble. I don't know why you're here, and I probably don't want to know, so leave before we blow ya to bits!" the father yelled. We all changed back into our wolf forms and heard gasps. Then a shot rang out.


	8. Escape

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 8

~O~

Brook

"Wake up, mutts!" a voice called I arose from my sleep and stared at the source of the voice. There was a disgusting small man whose shirt was way too small and had a receding hair line. In his mouth was a cigar which made my nose twitch. Forest was already awake and was starting to growl. "Ah shut up! Now get your mangy butts out of there!" When we didn't move the man growled and pressed a button. The entire cage felt like it was electric. It felt like a thousand watts of power went through me and it hurt. We yelped and jumped from the opening, ready to take off, but there was simply a wall. Within that one second that we stood there wondering what was going on, the only door closed and the guy hopped back in his truck and drove off.

"What? Where are we?" Forest asked.

"You, my friend, are in a dog pound," a voice creaked from the other side of the room. It was dark, but I could make out several other really depressed looking dogs.

"A pound? What's a pound?" Forest asked. That word was new to us.

"You sure are strange if you don't know what a pound is," the dog croaked.

"Uh… we…. Uh… we aren't from around here. So, uh, what is a pound?" I replied.

"A pound is a place where dogs are brought after they've been captured," another dog replied. Just then, a door opened and a streak of light came in. A human came in, flipped on the lights, and did some kind of motion with his hands. A truck backed up into the room and soon stopped. A cage door on the other side of us opened and one of the humans opened a slot on the side of the truck. Four large guys came and each picked up a heap of fur. When all four heaps were in the cage, the humans left the room, but left the lights on.

"Forest, are those…" I started.

"Yes," the four heaps were four bloodied wolves.

~O~

Blaze

I slowly opened my eyes. That first shot had hit me, and for some reason, the other humans started to shoot at us, too. We ran, but we couldn't make it. The last thing I remember was falling on the ground and watching Celest fall to her knees as a bullet sped through her human chest.

Celest! My vision was slightly blurry, but that didn't stop me from getting up and tripping over something on the ground. I sat back up and shook my head as the blurriness faded. I had tripped over Celest. I instantly lay down and started to see if she was breathing. I stared at her chest, never blinking until her ribs expanded. I let a sigh of relief and checked the area. Snipe was there, so was Maddy, but surprisingly, Maddy didn't have any bloodied wounds. I waved it off and continued searching. The whole place was filled with dogs. All of them were lying down and sighed a lot. I looked at the cage beside us, and to my surprise, the dogs in it were standing up. Wait, were they dogs? They were much bigger than any others and they had a different scent. It smelled like the forest.

"Hey, who are you?" the green one asked.

"I'm Blaze, and you are…" I replied.

"I'm Forest and this is Brook…" the green one started, but then another voice spoke up from the other side of the room.

"And I'm Breeze and this is Copper," I looked at the other side of the room and sure enough, there were two others.

"Let me ask you a question now. What are you?" Forest asked.

"I'm, we're wolves," I stated. Then I heard Celest groan and I looked as she awoke. The others soon got up, too. "This is Celest, Snipe, and Maddy." I commented.

"We're wolves, too!" Brook, the blue one spoke up.

"Whoa! We met other wolves! Who are they?" Celest excitedly asked.

"That's Forest, Brook, over there is Breeze and Copper," I answered. Celest practically jumped for joy.

"So, how did you get in here?" Snipe asked Forest.

"Breeze, Brook, Copper, and I were all ambushed by humans, you?" Forest replied.

"Ambushed by humans," Snipe smirked.

"How do we get out?" Celest suddenly asked.

"I was waiting for someone to ask that! Let's bend some bars!" Copper spoke up.

~O~

Forest

After an agonizing hour of bleeding gums and bent bars, there was a hole big enough for a wolf to fit through in all three cages. We snuck around to the door, careful not to be seen.

"Hey," Celest tried to gain someone's attention.

"Shhhh!" I shushed her.

"Hey!"

"SHHHHHHH!"

"HEY!"

"WHAT!" I quietly screamed.

"Why don't we just use our disguises?" Celest commented.

"…Good idea," I retorted. We all changed into our human forms and I took notice of Copper's human. He had a tan colored button up shirt and a copper colored tie. He had a dark brown suit jacket and he was pretty much wearing a suit, but it didn't look so tight or made him look like a business man, instead he looked like a teenager after prom. The top few buttons were unbuttoned his jacket was loosely on him. He had tan blue jeans and copper colored tennis shoes. His hair was messy and copper colored. His eyes followed suit. I had to admit that he was pretty good looking himself. I caught Breeze practically drooling when she saw him and I had to snicker. She punched me lightly, but she was stronger than she looked.

"We ready?" Blaze asked. I had already confirmed that he had been the leader of the other group. Our group on the other hand, we weren't entirely sure. I was the first to think of it, but Copper was also stronger. Breeze would make a great leader with her strength and how easily she navigated. Brook, she didn't seem like she wanted the attention.

"Let's go!" Snipe announced. He seemed to be like an exile. It wasn't like he was treated like one. Maddy stayed with him and Celest didn't leave him out. It was Blaze who made him seem unworthy. He often scowled at him and never really asked him opinion. Maddy, now she was tricky. I wasn't quite sure about her, but he scent seemed so familiar.

We headed out to what looked like a garage. Five different trucks were parked, but only one seemed to be occupied with humans.

"Hey, why don't we hijack one of these?" Copper suggested.

"Uh, we can't drive!" Breeze scowled.

"We can try!" Copper hopped into the truck and all we could do was sigh. This truck was a normal truck and wasn't one of the trucks that we had rode in during our _merry_ trip here. Inside the truck were enough seats to place five, but three of us had to ride in the back. Copper, Breeze, and I got stuck riding in the back. I heard Blaze turn the keys and the truck start up. I also heard the four humans who had been working on the truck start to walk over.

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**Peeps, I hope you all liked it! Please review!**


	9. Bar Fight!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 9

~O~

Blaze

"What on Earth do ya think y'ere doin?" one of the men said. I was still trying to figure out what each little thing did before we took off.

"What does it look like? We're trying to get out of here!" I yelled. I stomped my foot down on what I thought was the gas and the car went backwards, busted through a wall, and kept on going.

"Turn it around!" Celest yelled.

"I'm trying!" I responded. She growled and pushed me out of the way. I sat down in the only open seat while Celest turned us around, got us onto a road, and kept the truck straight and at a steady speed.

"Now that's a female," Snipe snickered. I elbowed him and sat in amazement. There was Celest, driving a truck. That was my girl. What?

~O~

Breeze

Okay, so, the ride in the back was pretty boring. It was extremely hot outside and I accidently changed forms once or twice. The only funny thing that happened was when Forest got car sick and was throwing up over the side when he almost fell out. Everyone laughed at that.

The car seemed to be going slower, so I asked, "Why are we going so slow?"

"Uh… we're out of gas," Celest groaned as the car came to a stop. We all jumped out and decided to continue out on foot. We walked beside the road. It had started to sprinkle, and the woods around us were pretty leafless. I assumed it was around fall.

"So, where are you all headed?" Blaze asked.

"To Paradise, you?" Forest replied.

"Us, too," Forest stopped, but only for a second.

"We thought we were the only ones trying to get there, but I guess not. Tell me, how did you all find out about Paradise?" Forest continued the conversation.

"Well, that one's tricky. When we lived in the city…" Blaze started.

"You lived in a city, too? What city?" Forest interrupted.

"What was it called?" Blaze pondered.

"I think it was called Salt Lake," Celest answered.

"Yeah, Salt Lake City. At that time, I lived in the cellar of an apartment building. One night, a guy brought down a book. The book talked about Paradise and all that. The next day I ran into Celest. We stuck together after that. After we started our little journey, we found Snipe following us. Then I got bit by a snake and somehow Maddy came into the group," Blaze finished, but that last part seemed to baffle Forest.

~O~

Forest

It can't be! Was it this group of wolves that I smelled? There's no way, but now that he mentioned it, Maddy's scent does seem familiar. I think I smelled it at one point in the city…

"Back down to Earth, Forest!" Brook waved her hand in front of my face. I shook out of it and looked around. "Tell them how we got together, Forest."

"Oh, yeah, sure, well, I saw Brook walking through town, so I stopped her and said hello. She followed me back to my place and we heard a howl, so we went to investigate. We found Breeze jumping off buildings in the middle of the night. The next day, Brook accidently bumped into Copper and he joined. There is one thing that bothered me, though. When we heard that howl, there was a different scent than that of Breeze, and when we set out on our journey, we found a broken log with some blood. There was also a strange scent there, too. Ma…" I started.

"LOOK! There's a building!" Breeze screamed with joy. It had started out a sprinkle, but now it was fat globs of water falling from the sky. Before I took off running towards the building with the rest of them, I noticed that Maddy was giving an evil kind of scowl. I waved it off and started to run.

We all ran as fast as we could. We walked inside and it was probably one of my worst nightmares. We were standing in a bar, but it wasn't just a bar. There was a stage and rooms up top. I was about to walk out that door when I saw Breeze ran up to the bartender.

~O~

Breeze

"So, I haven't seen you here before. Where are you all from?" The bartender asked.

"Oh, uh, we're from Salt Lake City," I answered. The bartender sat a bottle in front of me and placed one in front of Copper.

"Salk Lake City, my my my, you all sure are far from home," The bartender continued.

"Yeah, uh, hey, could we rent some rooms?" I asked.

"How many?"

"How many you got?"

"We have two rooms available,"

"We'll take them, uh, will this do?" I pulled out some money from a wallet I stole from a guy in the bar area.

"Sure, here you go," I smiled and brought the two keys to Forest. He wasn't the strongest, but we kind of considered him to be the leader.

"What are those?" he asked.

"I bought us some rooms for the night," I replied.

"How many?"

"There were only two,"

"Well, we had better check them out,"

"You go ahead; I'm going to stay down here with Copper for a while,"

"Okay," Forest gave me a weak smile and took the keys. I took a big swig of the stuff in my bottle before going back to the bar.

~O~

Brook

Since there were only two rooms, Forest decided one for the girls and one for the boys. I personally think he did it because of Breeze and Copper, but enough of that. I climbed up the stairs until I got to the girl's room. There was only one bed, but there was a carpet on the floor. There wasn't much interior decorating, but there was a bathroom. Celest was already in there. She was sitting on the bed in her human form. Her head was leaned back against the wall and her eyes were closed. I closed the door, but it made a loud creaking sound and she opened her eyes.

"Hi," I waved a little and sat on the rug. She smiled at me and then closed her eyes again.

"Brook, do you ever think about someone else?"

"Yeah, all the time,"

"No, I mean like Blaze,"

"Sure, I guess,"

"Nooo, I mean like do you have this feeling around anybody?"

"Oooh, that, well yeah…"

"Who?"

"It's… uh… it's… well… um… it's Forest," I let a little sigh.

"I should have guessed. I get that feeling around Blaze. He's saved my life like twice, but I don't think it's just gratitude, I-I think I really like him,"

"Have you told him?"

"No,"

"Why?"

"The same reason you don't tell Forest," We didn't talk about anything for about a half hour, then Copper came barging in.

"Girls, come quick," Copper stumbled and almost fell, but he caught himself and went back down the stairs. Celest and I gave one glance at each other before racing down the stairs.

~O~

Celest

We ran into the bar room, but before I could process what I was seeing, a beer bottle flew right over my head and I ducked on instinct. I saw Forest trying to get people to stop throwing stuff and to leave him alone, but that was no use. This was a bar fight. Fists were flying, bottles were thrown, and only one person was laughing. Blaze. He was standing on the stage, but he wasn't there for long. He jumped on the back of some big human and head butted him. The man instantly fell to the ground and Blaze was only momentarily stunned. He quickly regained his balance and picked up a bottle. He was laughing like this was something GOOD!

"Blaze! What is going on!" I yelled, but no one could hear me besides Brook and Copper, well, scratch that. Copper was fighting with some other human, too. Breeze was nowhere to be seen, but I spoke too soon. She was hammering down humans faster than the guys. She would throw a punch, dodge another, and grab a bottle all within a heartbeat. I was stunned and… even a little jealous. I started to march over to where she was, no one noticing me, but I stopped dead in my tracks. A fist swung and was only inches from my nose when I grabbed it. I swung my fist and knocked the guy in his nose. He crossed his eyes and smiled dumbly before falling to the ground. That was the point where I joined the fight. Of course I didn't grab any bottles, I used my fists. Once or twice I heard Blaze yell something like _Go Celest! _Or _Right, left, right, YEAH!_ It was fun, for a while, but the bartender had apparently called the cops. As soon as they came through the door, we snuck away through an emergency exit. I had to admit, that was the most fun I'd had in, well, forever!

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**Okay peeps, I'm like super sorry for not posting in forever, but... I don't know. I just got kind of lazy. I've been working on school and practicing drawin. Oh yeah, my deviantart is like awesome! I suggest you check it out. My username is Isiybelle, of course. Other than that, good, late afternoon or whatever. One more thing, I've never even gone to Salt Lake City. It just popped in my mind so I put it down. :-)**


	10. Shadows

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chatper 10

~O~

Celest

"What is that?" Blaze asked.

"It's a map, just so you know," Forest replied.

"Why do we need a map?" Blaze gave off some attitude on that one.

"So we can see where we're going, duh!" Forest replied and Brook giggled.

"Uh, sorry to rain down on your parade oh great map reader Forest, but I don't think the map is just going to say, take a right at the mountain and you have reached you destination!" Blaze laughed at this, followed by some more giggles from Brook, a suppressed laugh from me, a snicker from Breeze, and a snort from Copper. Maddy had disappeared right after we left the bar. Snipe had gone to scout ahead, even though we were just like traveling by a highway. We had stopped at some rest stop for trucks and Forest decided to pick up a map.

Forest huffed and turned away, pretending to read the map since none of us could read. I could already tell that it was going to be a long day.

~O~

Shadow

I sat on the heap of stone considered to be a throne, yet it was not worthy for a human to be seated upon. As the keeper of the darkness, I should be swimming through a room filled with finery from everywhere and that old fool they called the creator should be looked up in the deepest, darkest part of the universe. I knew his real name; I had been there when it was erased. I had been there when Athan was crowned the creator and I was left as the keeper of darkness. I clenched my fist at the thought. Why did the universe hate me? Millennia after millennia I've pondered on that. Why did the universe hate me? Before I held this title, I had just been a loyal wolf. I had always listened to my den mother and almost never fought with my siblings, but still, the universe hated me. My parents abandoned me when I was a little pup. I never knew why, but they just left one day and all the other wolves of the pack left, too, but not before calling me a demon.

I never understood that. It was just like everyone suddenly hated me. I knew I was different. I had this grey fur with black patches over each of my eyes. None of the other wolves had this fur. Our… their pack consisted of only red wolves with lighter orange wolves and occasionally a brown wolf, but there had never been a grey one. Other than difference in coloring, nothing was different. I had lived a rough life, longer than a life since that fateful day I met Athan. Best friends until the end, he had said. It was all a lie. One day, mother universe came down and chose us two. She picked Athan to go forth and create Paradise while she left me to attend to the demonic shadows that tortured me. I tried to befriend the shadows, but they drove me crazy, that is, until I snapped. I became the ruler over them and they served my every whim because they feared me. They knew now that I had the power to destroy them with a flick of a tail or finger.

After the a few hundred years, I had started to miss Athan, him being my best and only friend and all. I could never hold a grudge, or at least, not until I became the keeper. My hatred for my parents and everyone who had ever dared to invoked me grew and grew, but not with Athan. I had only tried to visit him once and it was out of pure loneliness. I left my darkness for the first time in forever and set out on the road to Paradise. I didn't take me long since I was immortal and didn't have to deal with mortal needs. When the mountain was finally in my view, he attacked. Athan attacked ME. He accused me of trying to steal Paradise. He said that all of my excuses were lies and broke me. Athan broke me, he practically ripped out the shriveled little thing of a heart I had left and tore it up into a million little pieces, and I watched as those pieces blew away on the wind. It was then that I knew the universe hated me. It had gotten rid of that one friendship I had, the only thing I ever held dear, and deleted it from existence. I never went back to try to explain, I never went back to apologize for something I didn't do. I never left that cave in the center of my mountain until that day.

I grew so lonely, I started to talk to the shadow things, and they responded. That was what gave me an idea. I shaped the shadows and put all the will I had left into creating her. Oh, how I miss my little star, my Celest.

~O~

Blaze

"Celest, are you all right?" I asked. Celest was staring off into space again and that was never a good sign. We had stopped by the side of the highway and we all probably looked like hobos or something because cars would stop and ask us if we needed a ride. At first we had thought we could hitch a ride to Paradise, but no human knew of Paradise.

"Hmmm, oh, sorry, yeah, I'm fine," Celest gave a weak smile before staring off into the distance again. I sighed and fell onto my back. The others had fallen asleep a while ago, except for Snipe and Breeze. Breeze had decided to keep watch.

I watched as Celest finally closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. I stared at her for a few moments, taking in her beauty that radiated from both inside her and outside of her, before sighing and turning away. I found myself doing that often. I sighed way more than usual ever since I left that city. Truth be told, I had actually almost forgotten about it. I don't know how that's possible since that city is where I had the most fun, but that's a lie. Nothing could compare to this. I knew that while I was in the city, I was bored out of my mind. Then I met Celest and became complete. I could have been content with only her forever, but then came Snipe and Maddy. Before I knew it, Celest and I had formed a pack. That pack grew even more when Forest and his pack joined.

I sighed again, quietly telling myself to stop. So much stress was placed on my shoulders now. I had my original pack to think about, plus some. Forest was obviously the leader of his pack and Celest had practically signed me up for it, so there was the question of who was alpha. I would be happy to hand it over to Forest, but he didn't really seem to want it.

"Dude, what's on your mind?" the sudden noise made me jump, but I quickly relaxed when I realized that it was only Snipe. It was Snipe. I silently growled at him before curling up and pretending to sleep. "Hey, I don't know what your problem is with me, but I want to know. What did I ever do to you?" I growled at myself. I didn't even know why I hated Snipe. He had apologized endlessly for practically stalking Celest and I had forgiven him, but there was just something about him. Maybe it was just the fact that Celest had immediately liked Snipe whereas she had threatened me at the first sight. "Tell me," Snipe sounded angry this time. "Tell me what I did that made you mad at me because I want to know!" Snipe growled and nipped at me. I jumped up and nipped at him, too. I snarled at him to try to put him in his place, but he didn't cower away. I growled at him, but he only took a step back before leaping at me. I dodged, but his claws got my shoulder. I winced in pain before ducking as he snapped. His neck was open and I was going for it. I was going to kill Snipe and end this feud now.

_Stop! Blaze, stop it!_

I stopped my attack and tilted my head in confusion. I thought I had just heard Maddy's, " Ahhhh!" I screamed in pain as Snipe bit my back. I kicked and bucked, trying to get him off, but he wouldn't come off. I was starting to slow down. I started to pant hard. I couldn't keep it up. Then a plan struck. I fell to the ground and after a minute, Snipe released his hold. He was foolish. I sprang up as fast a lightning and knocked him to the ground. I put my front two paws on his chest and pushed him down. He whimpered and I growled. I was tempted to just end it there, bit his neck and take pleasure in watching the soul drain from his eyes. I smiled at the thought. I was about to do it, too, but a sob brought me back to sad reality. Celest was crying. She was crying because of me. I let the flames engulf me.

~O~  
Forest

I thought I had seen it all. The sight of another wolf, a wolf jumping off a building, a wolf driving a truck, even a bar fight caused by wolves, but I had never seen this. Blaze had caught fire, but he wasn't in pain. Blaze looked at Celest before jumping off Snipe and growling at us. He walked over to a tree nearby and lay down. No one went to lie beside of him, not even Celest. Frankly, we were all scared to death of him. Breeze got closer to Copper and I snuggled up to Brook while Maddy checked Snipe for injuries. Everyone was with someone, except for Celest. Celest just seemed to stare off into the distance, keeping her sight on a mountain range in the distance. Slight looks of longing crossed her face every now and then, but they never lasted. She sighed before lying down. We had a lot to talk about in the morning.

~O~

Breeze

I hadn't seen the whole fight. I heard growling and whimpers, so I thought we were under attack. I had run back to our camp in time to see Blaze catch on fire. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Unfortunately, I wasn't. Blaze growled at the others before lying down beside a tree. I took that as cue to be quiet, but curiosity is a killer. I tilted my head and made a look of confusion cross my face. Copper returned it with a shake of his head that probably meant later. I sighed and walked over to him. We weren't mates or anything, but I did find him kind of attractive. He was charming and strong and handsome and… OMG grow up! I wiped some drool off of my mouth before lying down beside of him, blushing when he scooted closer to me. At that moment, I wasn't sure if I was a human or in my wolf form, but I sure was in a small version of Paradise.

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**Okay, just another chapter, please read and review. :-)**


	11. Change

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the idea for this story.**

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Chapter 11

~O~

Celest

The mountain, it was so close, the mountain, I needed to get there, I had to get there. Why? I stopped suddenly. Why did this mountain matter so much? I don't remember ever being here before, so why does it make me long for it? It was strange.

"You okay?" Forest asked. I nodded yes and trudged forward again. Breeze and Copper had taken the lead, scouting ahead for any dangers or whatever. I was walking with Snipe, Brook, and Forest. Forest seemed to do all the talking, I just listened and Brook didn't say much at all, and Snipe, he just grumbled to himself. Maddy was in front of us, close enough so that we could make out almost every detail, but just far enough that she couldn't hear our conversation. Blaze, he was behind all of us. I had begged him to join us, but he refused. I had also asked him if I could walk with him, but he told me no. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him. After that fight was Snipe a few days ago, he just hadn't been himself.

As I was thinking about our arrangements, I didn't notice the rock and I tripped, thus the shock sending me into transformation mode. My wolf came out and the others rushed to make sure that I was okay.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I reassured them. When we started to take off again, Forest gasped.

"Celest, what's up with your leg?" Forest asked.

"What? What's wrong with my leg?" I turned and was fully shocked. On my right back leg, the star that ended the swirl was red and the swirl was red, too. I tried to lick it off, but it was my fur. Why had it changed? What was going on? Why did I want to go to the mountain?

~O~

Snipe

I sat on a rock, head in my hand, elbow on my knee, and thought. Night had fallen and Celest still hadn't figured out the mystery of her fur, but forget that. Blaze was spending the night alone, yet again. I sat there, staring at him, but he didn't notice. I sighed and turned my gaze towards the rest of the pack. They were all huddled together for warmth. It seemed that the closer we got to the mountains, the colder it became. The cold didn't bother me though. I had never really noticed it, just the others.

I stared at Celest the longest. I remember when I first saw her

2 years and 4 months earlier

I was wandering the streets, not sure how I got in that town or who I was, just a sense that told me to stay with the shadows. So, I stuck to the dark alleyways and corners. Eventually I learned how to disguise myself. It had been a normal day, me walking around the town, trying to find something to eat, when my nose picked up an unfamiliar stench. It smelled lovely, but dark, so I followed. Down the street sat a woman with lightly curly blond hair, but she was a wolf. Any fellow wolf could see that. She never seemed to notice the white haired guy with the scar staring at her in the middle of the street. Something was drawing me to her, telling me to protect her and keep her safe, so I did. I came out of the shadows and started to follow her, helping her without her knowing, because I was too scared of what she might think of me. This went on until he came.

2 years later

I had awoken early to make sure that Celest was okay. She usually slept in most mornings, so I was usually okay. I stretched out my back and heard a yawn. Celest had got up and started to stretch, too. She was lying back down, probably to go back to sleep, when she started growling. At first I thought she was crazy, but as I looked, there was another wolf. I could already feel the hatred for this other wolf growing with each second I looked at him. Celest had soon stopped her growling and was talking to him. It just made my hatred grow.

1 week later

I had decided to follow the two as they traveled for Paradise. Something told me to just laugh at the name, but I kept silent. I had accidentally shaken a bush and Celest had noticed my presence. I took another step forward, careful not to shake a bush, but I stepped on a twig. Blaze pounced and we fought. I was just lucky that Celest felt some compassion for me after all. She let me join their little duo in order to make a trio which soon became a pack when Maddy came. I was actually happy when Blaze died, but Maddy came and brought him back which made me hate her, too, but she was just too like me to hate. She was secretive, like me, calm, also like me, and a list of other similarities. I went out of my way to make her smile and all that, but I never forgot about Celest.

Present

I sighed. It wasn't love that I felt for Celest, it was more like duty, like I was supposed to keep her safe, but as it turns out, that job sounds easier than it really is.

~O~

Shadow

Twitch

Twitch

Twitch

My hand flew up and touched the cheek that was twitching. I just felt so… so… so anxious for no reason. It had all started a few days ago. It had only been a twitch every now and then, but now, it was every second of every hour and it was driving me mad. The shadows must have sensed this, so they kept their distance, not wanting to get on my bad side and be destroyed. I was glad for this peace. I had to get it together. I was the keeper of darkness, the dark side of the coin, the guardian of the underworld. Guardian, ha! Those guardians the creator had were useless. They were practically strays that had died and should have come to me, but that blasted Athan stole their souls from me, turned them into his guardians to protect Paradise. I only knew a little about them. One of them died in a forest fire, one in a flood, one got lost in the woods, and one was torn to shreds by a tornado. Of course he had that witch and that knight with him, too. The witch, I have no idea where he got her from. He could have just stolen one of my shadows and mixed it with a form made of light to create her, I'll never know, but that knight, he was swallowed whole by an earthquake and died in the halls of an abandoned copper mine. I know how they all died, I know how every living thing that has ever existed or ever will exist had died or will die, just one of the perks of being the keeper of shadows.

The Keeper, that was my given name by mother universe. I wonder how she's been doing all these millennia.

Twitch

"URRRRGGGHHHH!" I growled. "You, come here. I want you to find the cause of this nuisance! Now!" I yelled at a nearby shadow. If only I had _my_ guardian. I fear the worst has come of him. I never knew what happened to him after he left with my sweet little star.

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**Sorry that this chapter is short. Please read and review. :-)**


	12. The Darkness is Taking Control

**DISCLAIER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the ideas for this story.**

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Chapter 12

~O~

Forest

Celest didn't seem like Celest anymore. We had continued our journey up the mountains and the farther we went, the more Celest's fur changed. The blue was now grey and the yellow now a deep red, and her fur was like that up to her front legs. At first she had been terrified, but now she didn't even care. Something was changing her. She just kind of stopped being Celest. The Celest I knew would laugh and was clumsy and couldn't stand the quiet or being alone. This new Celest kept quiet most of the time and whenever she did say something, it ended the conversation. It was this change in Celest that brought Blaze back to the pack. He seemed so sad. Every time he would try to see what was wrong with Celest, she would just laugh at him and walk away. I'm not sure what is going on, but something in my gut tells me we'll find out in the mountain.

~O~

Brook

"I wonder what's up with Maddy," Copper commented between bites of the rabbit he was eating. Now that I thought about it, Maddy did seem off.

"Hey Maddy, why don't you come over here and join us?" Forest invited.

"No thanks, not hungry," was all she replied. After a moment of silence, Snipe got up and sat down beside her. I saw her smile slightly before I felt something touch my back. I froze, eyes wide and filled with fear. I admit that I am a chicken, but I've never been as scared as that. It was dark and that just added to my fear. It had felt like ice cubes had brushed across my back. The others were starting to notice my fear.

"What's wrong, Brook?" Forest asked. I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out, so, instead, I jumped up and ran over to him. At first he looked at me funny, but then we noticed that Copper had changed into his wolf form and was growling at something. I turned my head slowly and my eyes went wide yet again. The rock that I had been leaning against was pitch black now. It had been white before. There was a figure as black as night and as tall as a tree. It was a pitch black shadow of a being. Before we could blink, it ran off.

"Did- did you guys just see that?" I asked. I wasn't sure whether to scream or sit back down.

"Yeah," They both replied in unison.

"What was it?" I asked, still deciding whether I should just sit back down on the ground instead of Forest's lap.

"It was a shadow," the new voice literally made me jump up. I turned around expecting to see the shadow thing again, but it was just Celest. Wait, Celest? She didn't look like Celest. Her hair was black now and longer. It was braided in a long braid that came over her shoulder. Her soft yellow eyes were now a menacing red. Even her clothes were different! She had a black tank top on even though it was freezing. She still had her black pants, but her boots were now red high heels. There was also a red belt through her pants.

"Celest, what happened to you?" I took a step towards her, but she grabbed my arm with strength she had never shown before.

"What do you mean?" She smiled cruelly.

"Celest, that hurts. Could you let go?" I was now trying to pry her fingers off my arm, but she just held tighter.

"Celest, that's enough!" Forest stood up and started to walk towards her. She threw out her other arm faster than a lightning bolt and grabbed Forest by the neck, lifting him a few inches off the ground. Then Copper charged at her, but she just kicked him in the groin like it was nothing. He kneeled over and Celest just laughed.

"Celest, stop," Blaze appeared out of nowhere and whispered in Celest's ear. She huffed and released Forest and me. It was a good thing, too, because Forest was starting to turn purple. What was going on with Celest?

~O~

Blaze

Celest, she…. She just wasn't acting normal. She was becoming angry and mean and hateful and all sorts of other things. She's starting speaking of strange things and none of us know what to say. Every time she sees a shadow, she smiles. Copper told me once that he saw her telling a shadow to 'make sure everything's ready.' Snipe has even started to get worried, though he is more concerned over Maddy than Celest. Maddy is another problem. She's stopped eating. She rarely sleeps and is always shivering or deep in thought. She knows something. I can feel it. She knows that something is going on, but she won't tell anyone. Whether she's protecting us or something else, I don't like it.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a familiar voice yelled. "Blaze! Hey Blaze!" Copper yelled as he slid to a stop only a few feet away, "Have you seen Celest?"

"What?" Celest, was gone? She knew better than to wander off on her own, didn't she? With the way she's been acting lately… "No, but I know where she went." Copper nodded and we both raced back over to the others, the peak of the mountain only a little ways away.

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**Sorry I haven't posted in forever. But here is the next chapter, even though it's short. :-)**


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